LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas congressman Rick Crawford called Thursday for a higher tax on millionaires that would be tied to passage of a balanced budget amendment, a major shift for a freshman Republican who was elected on an anti-tax platform.

Crawford, who represents east Arkansas’ 1st District, proposed legislation that would create a 5 percent surtax on individual incomes exceeding $1 million a year. The surtax would depend on Congressional passage of a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.

Crawford and other Republicans have opposed increasing taxes on higher income individuals, but the congressman said both parties needed to compromise to address the national deficit.

“Most all major accomplishments in Washington happen when both parties work together, and this often means each side accepts something they don’t necessarily like,” Crawford said in a statement issued by his office. Crawford declined to be interviewed about the proposal, which his office said still is being drafted.

A Crawford spokesman said the tax would expire in five years if the balanced budget amendment isn’t ratified by the states. Otherwise, it would expire in 10 years.

Crawford’s reversal comes as he faces a difficult and potentially costly re-election bid. Democrats eager to reclaim the 1st district say they believe Crawford is vulnerable, and new congressional boundaries approved by the Arkansas Legislature last year added some traditionally Democratic counties to his district.

Crawford was elected to the historically Democratic district in 2010, and has signed a pledge to oppose any tax increases.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said voting for the surtax would violate that pledge. But Norquist said he believed Crawford pitched the idea more as “teaching moment” than a serious effort.

“I think what he’s doing is strategically a mistake,” Norquist said.

Three Democrats — state Rep. Clark Hall, prosecutor Scott Ellington and economist Gary Latanich — are running for their party’s nomination to challenge Crawford in November. Crawford does not face any opponents in the May 22 Republican primary.

Hall, who beat Crawford’s fundraising in the last quarter reported, on Thursday criticized the congressman’s change of heart.

“Rick Crawford thinks taking all sides of an issue and holding one’s finger up to the political wind will help his election chances,” Hall said in a statement issued by his campaign. “In reality, it’s political cowardice, and the only compromise Rick Crawford has shown willingness for is a compromise of his principles.”

The proposal also is the second time in recent months Crawford has reversed his position on tax cuts. Crawford in December joined other Republicans to support a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut supported by President Barack Obama. Crawford, who had initially backed a one-year renewal, eventually urged House Speaker John Boehner to find a compromise.

Last month, Congress approved extending the tax cut through the end of the year.

Crawford’s proposal received a mixed response from other members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation. Fellow freshman GOP Rep. Tim Griffin said he’s opposed to the new tax.

“New taxes won’t convince those who want to grow government to support a balanced budget, and regardless, our economic and fiscal problems were created because the federal government spends too much, not because we are taxed too little,” Griffin said. “Any revenue a new tax might generate won’t make a dent in the problem our decades of overspending have created.”